Mounesh Vishwakarma

Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (MS)

Bantwal, Aug 31: Damaged road, rusted roof sheets of the booth, barricades and safety cons strewn all over the place, CCTV cameras that are not working and looking at the ground, street lights not giving light, broken traffic sign boards and the ruffian attitude of the toll personnel. These are the usual scenes that are seen at Brahmarakootlu toll plaza.

Brahmarakootlu toll plaza is totally unscientific. Due to the recent heavy rains, the condition of the road and other equipment is completely damaged. The commuters have to pay money for repairing their vehicles for having driven on the road adjacent to the toll plaza, in addition to paying the toll fee. The commuters are asking whether they do not have a right to drive on a good quality road after paying the toll.

There is no security for the vehicles that pass through this toll gate. There is no systematic drainage. The concrete of the road is completely destroyed. High mast lamps and street lights do not give any light. Except the boards displaying the toll fees, all other sign boards are missing or broken. Nandini milk canteen that was supposed to be open 24 hours of the day is still not started. The department which taxes the public is not bothered to provide them the basic infrastructure of the toll gate.

As the prominent people, high-ranked officials and politicians travel on highway, they do not come across this issue. Only those who pay the toll know the pathetic state of the road. The commuters are complaining that nobody is listening to their vows and only collecting toll.

When the toll is being collected, the normal traffic on the highway is affected. There is no alternative or service road for vehicles that need to pass through the toll on emergency basis like ambulance, fire service and sometimes even police personnel. The commuters say that the vehicles are plying in an erratic manner near the toll plaza that creates confusion and cause accidents.

A few days ago, a video of a car that fell into a ditch and got both its tyres punctured after paying the toll, had gone viral on social media. NHAI people who got alert after the car incident just put some mud to the ditch and did not think of any permanent solution.

Moreover, the toll booth does not have proper security. The computer room itself is totally clumsy. The construction of new toll booth and road, that started two years ago, to avoid vehicle jam, has stopped halfway. So the authority has failed to provide the basic infrastructure to the commuters, though it has not stopped collecting the toll.

Sukumar Bantwal, one of the daily commuters who passes through this toll gate says, "Brahmarakootlu toll plaza welcomes the commuter with deep pot holes around it. Except collecting toll in this toll gate since many years, no work is being done. There are no street lights. When one sees from a distance it seems like a structure that is made to stand on four iron rods. The toll booth which collects money itself is rusted. There is no safety for the vehicles that ply across this toll plaza. We have to experience this everyday as part of our life."